Campus News
September 20th, 2019
GC swept by Howard, but not due to lack of effort
Lady Lakers fall in three sets despite Williams' all-out hustle
The effort was certainly there, illustrated by Terynn Williams' all-court coverage that included a run into the scorer's table. Unfortunately, that effort didn't translate into a win Wednesday night for Garrett College's rebuilding women's volleyball team.
Visiting Howard Community College swept the Lady Lakers, 25-9, 25-8, and 25-14 as GC's record dropped to 0-3 overall and within the Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference. Howard (3-5 overall, 2-3 league) used a simple formula in each set of the match: Start quickly, and never let up.
"I was really pleased with our movement," said Howard head coach Jake Achten, whose team finished with a 17-8 edge in kills and 18-9 advantage in service aces. "We were following the ball and ready for anything that came our way. We weren't watching the ball hit the floor."
GC head coach Kim Harsch praised her team's effort but said the Lady Lakers needed better execution.
"We weren't making the simple plays tonight – we seemed to be overthinking," said Harsch, whose more experienced 2018 team posted a winning regular-season record and qualified for the regional tournament. "We had a lot of serving errors that really hurt us tonight.
"We had good effort," continued Harsch, whose team is still looking for its first winning set of the year. "Terynn [7 digs, team-high 6 assists] was a good example. She was running all over the court, hustling on every play. Jada Maxwell also had a good match for us."
Howard took quick control of the first set, breaking away from a 1-1 tie as Emily Aubertin reeled off 10 straight service points. Aubertin's service-line performance was part of a 19-1 surge that gave the Lady Dragons a 20-2 cushion. Yi Su Arief finished off the streak with eight consecutive service points, while Kira Thompson had a pair of cross-court, point-scoring spikes to help Howard build the 18-point cushion.
Maxwell (2 kills) sparked a 7-4 Garrett response with a pair of well-placed hits into a wide-open middle of the Howard defense. Allison Oswald served consecutive points to get Garrett within 24-9, but Aubertin's dink into an open part of the court finished off Howard's 25-9 win.
The second set went much like the first as Howard notched its 25-8 win. A five-point service run from Arief helped the visitors build an early 10-2 advantage while teammate Natalie Hosseini had a pair of kills in a 6-1 run to stretch the lead to 16-4. GC never got the deficit under double digits the rest of the set.
Aubertin – who had match highs in points (11) and aces (7) – broke a 2-2 tie with a kill and then uncorked a pair of aces over three service points as Howard built a 6-2 lead in the third set. The Lakers were still within four points at 9-5 before Thompson (match-high 5 kills) contributed two kills and a service ace in a 6-0 run that opened up a 15-5 HCC cushion that eventually reached 22-10.
GC made one last run, highlighted by an ace from G'Vahn Pace (2 kills, 12 digs, team-high 3 points) and hit by Breyell Powell (2 kills, 3 digs) that pulled the Lady Lakers within 24-14. The run, and match, ended when Oswald (team-high 13 digs) – who had just served two points for GC – sent a serve just wide.
Sabrina Lagomarsino had a match-high 14 assists for Howard.
The Lady Lakers next play Saturday at noon at undefeated Montgomery College (8-0, 4-0).
